Questions linger in Cirilo 'Chilo' Madrid case

Cirilo "Chilo" Madrid, leaves the federal courthouse with his attorney during a break after a jury was chosen and his began Monday afternoon. Ruben R Ramirez/El Paso TImes (Ruben R Ramirez/El Paso TImes)

The seven days of testimony in the trial of Cirilo "Chilo" Madrid answered many questions about an 18-month conspiracy in which a public official was bribed and vulnerable children were robbed of a half-million dollars, yet questions remain.

For the first time since Madrid and his co-conspirator, Ruben "Sonny" Garcia, were indicted, many of the figures in the scandal spoke publicly -- and under oath -- about what happened in 2005 as Garcia's company, LKG Enterprises Inc., was given a contract with the Border Children's Mental Health Collaborative.

The county-run collaborative was funded in part by a 2002 federal grant. It was intended to bring emotionally disturbed children home from far-away residential facilities, place them with their families and shape services to help them.

REPORTER

Marty Schladen

LKG was paid to evaluate the collaborative -- a critical function because federal rules required the evaluator to form a review board to ensure children were protected and that the evaluator gathered information for a national database.

Witnesses described how Madrid and Garcia bribed former County Judge Dolores Briones to support LKG's contract with the collaborative as federal regulators became alarmed that LKG was not performing the services for which it was paid. Witnesses explained how Madrid was funneled $100,000 through a subcontract with a company owned by Jose Soria, who worked for Madrid at Aliviane Inc.

It's a year to the day since Madrid was arrested at his home. But even after a lengthy trial and conviction, many questions about his case remain unanswered:

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According to the government, the conspiracy started on July 1, 2005, with an action taken by former 65th District Court Judge Alfredo Chavez.

Garcia and Lisa Tomaka, the collaborative's director, both testified that Chavez took the lead in steering the $600,000-a-year contract to LKG, which also held a contract with his court. Yet he was never charged or called to testify in the trial of Madrid.

Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, was asked about Chavez and other matters related to the Madrid trial.

"With respect to your specific questions, we are not going to comment as to our prosecutorial decision making process," Fields said in an email.

Former UTEP professor S. Fernando Rodriguez also played a central role in the conspiracy, Garcia testified.

He helped persuade a doubtful Garcia to pursue the contract, wrote the proposal, was paid $100,000 and produced no services. But as with Chavez, he wasn't charged and he wasn't called to testify.

Rodriguez has also been paid more than $1 million over the past decade by Alivane Inc., the nonprofit that was run by Madrid until soon after he was indicted. Federal officials have confirmed that they're investigating that agency.

Soria, Madrid's subordinate at Aliviane, also was part of the team that persuaded Garcia to pursue LKG's contract with the Border Children's Mental Health Collaborative, Garcia said.

Soria produced documents claiming to the government that 167 children had been taken into the program with review-board approval by August 2006, Garcia testified. Yet University of Texas at El Paso officials, who oversaw the review board, said no such approvals were ever given.

Soria also participated in a December 2006 breakfast meeting in which he, Garcia and Madrid paid cash bribes to County Judge-elect Anthony Cobos, Garcia said.

By his own account, Soria profited $10,000 from a subcontract he had with LKG and, as Assistant U.S. Attorney Juanita Fielden said, he funneled another $100,000 to Madrid. He wasn't charged.

Even though Briones pleaded guilty a year ago, she won't be sentenced until March 22 -- the same day as Garcia and Madrid.

Presumably, her sentencing was delayed to ensure her cooperation in the cases against Garcia and Madrid. But prosecutors didn't call her to testify against Madrid.